Sam Bailey performs at Leicester City stadium as she takes the lead for xmas number one

X FACTOR winner Sam Bailey took to the Leicester City football stadium for her first post-X Factor gig earlier today.

Sam Bailey enjoyed her first post X Factor gig at her hometown's football stadium [REX]

The star - who is an ardent fan of the team - looked like the cat that got the cream as she made her way onto the pitch in one of the biggest gigs of her career so far.

The star performed two tracks in front of the crowd at her hometown club's King Power Stadium, during their qyuarter-final match against Manchester City.

Speaking before her performance she said: "Since I moved to Leicester it has always been a dream of mine to perform at Leicester City. All the family are massive fans and to sing in front of a sell-out crowd at King Power Stadium will be a special moment for me.

The X Factor winner performed two tracks in front of the crowd at the club's King Power Stadium [REX]

Sam said her dream has always been to perform for her home team [REX]

"The team have been doing brilliantly this season so I hope all the fans keep the faith for what will be a massive game tonight. I'm really looking forward to performing and hope everyone enjoys it," she added.

Some of the Championship club's players supported Bailey at the X Factor live shows, including striker David Nugent and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

The 36-year-old mother of two was picked by the public over teenager Nicholas McDonald at the end of the live show in front of 10,000 people at London's Wembley Arena on Sunday.

Bailey, who won a recording contract and will also support pop superstar Beyonce on the UK leg of her Mrs Carter world tour in February, will now bid for the Christmas number one with her cover of the Demi Lovato track, Skyscraper.

Sam looked like the cat that got the cream as she made her way onto the pitch [REX]

And it seems as though her race for the top of the charts isn't going too badly, after already shifting nearly 45,000 downloads.

However, her sales are only a quarter of those achieved at this stage by James Arthur, who won the show last year.

Arthur sold a colossal 187,000 copies of his single Impossible during his first full day on sale, making it the fastest seller of any X Factor winner.

She even got her very own personalised T-Shirt [REX]

But other past stars from the talent show have amassed much bigger sales also, with Alexandra Burke's debut Hallelujah sold 147,000 in 2008 and Matt Cardle's When We Collide sold 112,000 in 2010.

The chart firm's chief executive Martin Talbot said: "Sam Bailey is out of the blocks and into a strong lead in the race to become this year's Official Christmas number one."